Tagging Walleyes To Improve Management Around The Great Lakes

Ohio Division of Wildlife biologists are busy at work tagging walleyes that migrate around the Great Lakes, according to a report from the Toledo Blade. Their tools of choice include acoustic transmitter tags implanted into the fish to monitor their movements through the lakes and surrounding rivers.

Much of the work is being carried out in and around Lake Erie, commonly called the “Walleye Capital of the World.” Areas of interest for the fisheries researchers include the Maumee River in Ohio, as well as outcrops on other lakes like Lake Huron and Lake Ontario.

A key driver behind the work is to develop more understanding of the behaviors of walleye, which could help improve management efforts. By tracking the movements of these fish, then combing through the mass of fish detection data, the fisheries biologists hope to get a better handle on the number of walleyes from river- and reef-spawning stocks that migrate into the Detroit River, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie’s central and eastern regions after spawning.

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